Live, Laugh, Learn
by Curious Spirit
Summary: Two new penguins are introduced to the zoo. How long until they get under Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private's skin? Meanwhile two interns are also introduced to the zoo, which causes trouble for the penguins and lemurs, as Alice puts them on guard. R
1. Newbies

**Author's Note: **I thought it would be interesting to throw in the point of views of a couple human characters. I hope that's alright... O, and all characters (except mine, of course) belong to their respected owners. Now enjoy, or I shall steal your cookies! :D

It was another foggy day in the Concrete Cage that was Manhattan. At least, for most it was just another day, for others it was the chance to make something of themselves. Live, laugh, learn. Rendezvous, remember, rejoice. These simple words make almost everything better. But these words are often forgotten by a certain college graduate who's sleeping in on her first day as an intern at the Central Park Zoo.

As Rai twisted and turned in her bed, her alarm clock in pieces on the floor from half an hour ago, it seemed like she would sleep until noon. Then came a rapping at her bedroom door.

"Yo, Rai! You descent? We've got ten minutes to get to the zoo!" Called Kyle from outside her door. Rai responded with a mumble and unidentifiable words crashing into each other.

"Rai! Wake up for heaven's sake! Don't make me do _it_". He threatened. Rai responded with snore.

"Alright, I warned you," said Kyle, shaking his head as he snuck into her room, and poked the unconscious Rai. No response. A mischievous grin took form on Kyle's face. He took the liberty of jumping violently on Rai's bed while singing the New York theme at the top of his lungs.

"START SPREADING THE NEWS! I'M LEAVING TODAY~! I WANT TO BE A PART OF IT~!" He sang as Rai awoke instantly, hair in her face, her mouth filled with blood curdling screams. After setting eyes on the source of her rude awakening, her eyes filled with rage.

Kyle, enjoying himself, continued jumping, and added a few dance moves while singing.

"If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere,

Come on come through, New York, NEW YOR- Kack!" Rai had her hand around Kyle's throat and stared menacingly into his dark brown eyes.

"HOLY LADY OF GUADALUPE, KYLE!" She screamed. "Never… and I mean NEVER wake me up like that again!" Kyle smiled sheepishly, and giving Rai the most charming, yet guilty look he could muster.

"Could you please let go of me and get ready so we can leave? We only have seven minutes left."

"WHAT?!" Rai shrieked, as she clumsily ran off her bed to the bathroom, grabbed her clothes, and hurriedly got dressed while brushing her teeth at the same time. She showered in the evening, so thankfully she didn't have to worry about that, and she decided to tie her dark hair in a pony tail for a quick fix, and ran out the door with a backpack at hand without having breakfast. "What are you waiting for? Let's move!" She shouted at Kyle, who was astonished by her speed. Knowing that driving would be a waste of time considering the traffic and looking for parking, the duo ran the whole way to the zoo.

* * *

"Kowalski, status report!" Barked a penguin with a military air to him.

"It's two minutes to opening, Skipper, and still no sign of them," answered a taller penguin from the submarine scope.

"I'm so excited!" Chirped the younger penguin. "New penguins! I wonder what they'll be like?" He pondered in a soft English accent.

A fourth penguin with a feathered Mohawk and a scar on the left side of his face gave an anxious grunt, wondering when the recruits will arrive.

"Patience is a virtue, men," said Skipper. "Now, is everything ready? Status on the obstacle course!"

"Newly designed and fully functioning, Skipper!" Replied Kowalski with a respected salute.

"El Excellente. And the beverages?"

The scarred penguin gave a grin and opened the penguins' hidden refrigerator, which was filled with ice-cold fruit punch.

"Good work, Rico! And what of the snack provisions?" Asked Skipper, turning towards the younger penguin.

"Our supply is filled to the brink with popcorn, assorted sushi, assorted fish, and candy, sir!" Said the penguin happily.

"Good work, Private!" Skipper complimented. "Boys, be ready and keep your guard up! The new recruits will be here soon. And before we start the celebration, intense training is in order; a test of character and skill. These naïve newbies won't know what's coming to them." He said with a grin. The clock bell rang, signaling the opening of the zoo. The group of penguins exchanged looks, and as usual, retreated from their comfy den to 'greet' the visitors with Skipper calling after them, "Cute and cuddly boys, cute and cuddly".

* * *

It was already past opening time when Kyle and Rai arrived, exhausted, and out of breath. They were only a few yards away from the office to sign in, and meet their superior. But alas, running four and a half miles in twenty-five minutes while shoving past innocent walkers and homeless bums took a lot out of them. Their legs felt like cement. They looked up to see the office and gave a loud groan before slowly dragging themselves to the door.

"You're late!" hissed a red-haired zookeeper, who seemed to pop up out of nowhere. Kyle and Rai gave a startled yelp, and wondered how this person knew they were interns… until they looked at each other and noticed they were wearing the zoo uniforms.

"Well, better late than never, right, miss?" asked Kyle nervously as he scratched the back of his head. The zookeeper stared hard at him, making the atmosphere very uncomfortable.

"You're overly cheery.." Kyle gave a forced chuckle.

"That's a good thing. Keep the cheer. It'll make this job a whole lot easier." Said the zookeeper, patting him on the back with such force, Kyle lost balance. "You on the other hand…" She said, observing Rai, who was standing stiff despite her instinct to lean on her knees until she caught her breath. "Wrinkled uniform, puffy, fearful eyes, and messy hair," "Hey! My hair's always messy!" Rai said, annoyed not only with the zookeeper, but also the fact her hair is impossible to manage. "You look as though you rushed last minute to get ready, meaning that you are not going to take this job seriously!" The zookeeper pointed a finger at her. What was up with this lady? Is she always like this, or is it just at the new guys? Is this a test of character, or is she really threatening her? She waved her arms in front of her defensively. "No, no! It's not that at all!" She said nervously. "I'm just not a morning person, you can understand that, right?" She asked with a hopeful smile. The zookeeper on cocked an eyebrow. After a few painful seconds, Rai coughed to break the silence, and avoided eye contact with the keeper. The zookeeper gave a long, exasperated sigh. "Well, anyway, I'm Alice, and I'll be observing and critiquing your work ethic during your internship." Alice turned and walked ahead. "Come on, time for the tour." She said. Rai and Kyle exchanged looks and hurried to Alice's side. This will be… interesting, thought the two in unison.

After a long tour, the three zookeepers stopped in the walkway between the partying lemurs and the waving penguins.

"Well, now you know where to go and what to do, right?" Asked Alice, though she knew she didn't have to ask. Kyle and Rai were paying careful attention to her and the habitats from the beginning. The two interns nodded, anxious to start work. Despite rough beginnings, the three colleagues looked forward to working with each other.

"Great. There's one more thing I need you guys to do, ok?" Alice stated, hoping that what she tells the new kids won't scare them off.

"Sure thing Alice." Kyle said.

"What is it?" Asked Rai curiously.

"Between you and me, I have some suspicions about the penguins and lemurs." Said the paranoid zookeeper. Rai and Kyle cocked an eyebrow, and hoped to hear Alice fill out the blanks.

"You'll see." She said. Kyle dropped his shoulders, disappointed, while Rai face palmed, as she expected a grand story. "After the two of you are done working with the other animals, I need you to take surveillance of these guys." She said, pointing to the two habitats.

"What about the visitors?" Asked Kyle, who believed the people were more important.

"It's simple. Answer quick questions, point to the restrooms, but do not leave the lemurs or penguins unattended." She said with a solid face.

"Sure?" Kyle and Rai said in unison. Alice thanked them, and turned to report to the giraffe habitat. But before she left, she asked a quick favor from Rai.

"Rai, there's a crate in the research lab with two new penguins. Could you deliver them to the habitat for me?" She asked.

"What? B-but Alice, feeding and cleaning up is one thing, but actually managing the animals should be something done by a professional. Besides, these are wild penguins, right?" Alice nodded.

"Come on, Rai. Feeding and cleaning is volunteer stuff. Chores the teenagers do. You're a college graduate with a bachelor's degree in biology. You can handle delivering a couple of penguins into a habitat." Said Alice matter-of-factly.

"Well… they've had their shots, right?"

"of course."

"All clean? They have a calm disposition? Friendly with people?"

"One of them is more excitable, but it's nothing you can't handle."

Rai shifted her eyes toward the lab uneasily.

"Alice, you there? Is the kid in the giraffe habitat ok? No injuries, right? Haha! Can you believe he actually got himself stuck in there?" Boomed the walkie-talkie.

"I'll be right there," Alice answered.

Rai sighed. She still felt that handling animals should be done by a professional. But Alice had better things to do. She walked to the lab, and found herself surrounded by researchers, vets, and animals of all kinds being observed, some in other rooms being operated on. There was a lot going on, and a lot to take in.

Rai walked up to one of the researchers.

"Pardon me, but do you know where the new penguins are?" She asked, diverting her eyes.

* * *

"Hoover dam!" Skipper bellowed. "I don't believe this! Constant surveillance? What kind of twisted conspiracy is this?!" He shouted as he paced around the den apprehensively.

Kowalski was flipping through his notes and charts, confused about the situation.

"I expected this to happen, but not so soon. It just doesn't add up." He said worriedly.

"What are we going to do?" squeaked Private.

"Kaboom?" Rico suggested darkly. Private gasped at the thought.

"No. Too messy, Rico. That's a bit too problematic. I mean could you imagine the amount of paperwork?" Said Skipper as he continued his frustrated pacing.

"As troublesome as it is, Skipper, there is some good news," Kowalski assured. The penguins stared after the brainy penguin curiously.

"According to the files," Started Kowalski, retrieving the memory of employee files from the zoo database, "These 'spies' are newly trained interns, who still have their main chores during the first few hours of the day. Surveillance is simply an extra job for them. By my calculations, they'll have a remaining two hours of surveillance before closing time." He informed, scribbling on his white-board. Skipper stopped pacing, and settled down.

"Ah, sparky-eyed children." He smiled innocently. At least it seemed innocent. "We'll be sure they fall exhausted far before those last two hours. Men, it's time we prepare for 'Operation: Rundown."

As soon as Skipper said this, footsteps were heard above the penguins' headquarters.

"Hey guys! Got some new friends for ya. Come on up!" Shouted a human voice, most likely their assigned intern.

"Kowalski! Analysis!" Skipper ordered, and Kowalski was instantly at the submarine scope, observing the events. He saw the shaken dark-haired intern called 'Rai' reluctantly pull two penguins from a wooden crate, and gently setting them down at the edge of their habitat. She stared almost marveling at the sight of the penguins facing her, before quickly leaving the perimeter, and watching them from a safe distance.

"The eggs are in the henhouse, Skipper!" Stated Kowalski with a grin.


	2. Bad Impressions

**Author's Note: **I hope you all enjoy this chapter, despite its short-ness. If anyone seems out of character, tell me. Remember to review! I need you to tell me what you like, and what I need to improve on so I can make the story better. Well, enough of that! Time for the story, right about..... *pauses* NOW!

Kyle, getting a shovel from the warehouse to clean out the elephant dung noticed Rai watching the penguins.

"Shouldn't you be working?" He asked, wondering what was so fascinating.

"I'm making sure the new penguins adapt well to their environment, and that the others don't cause a fight. Animals are unpredictable, and you know that." She responded plainly.

"They'll be fine." He assured her.

"Do the math, Kyle: four male penguins, two new organisms, one territory. There's going to be a fight, I know it!"

* * *

"Are there any last minute adjustments we need for the welcome party?" Private asked, taking a final look around.

"Everything seems to be in order." Kowalski replied, comparing the perimeter with his plans, check list, and final sketch of the den's interior.

Rico was making final adjustments to the two newly carved-in bunks. Rico's amazing abilities with knives and explosives come in handy, even when the team wasn't on a mission. With his head held high and pride in his work, he jumped down from the bunks to join the other three penguins.

"Excellent work, boys. Though I can't help the feeling something's missing…" Skipper said. It was impossible, since everyone made sure they did their jobs, and did them right. "Never mind. Let's give these guys a New York welcome." He said, making his way upstairs. Skipper and company was shocked when they noticed that there was a single female penguin where there were originally two. The penguin gave a shy wave as the team cautiously approached her.

"Um… hi?" Skipper greeted, eyes scanning the platform, wondering where the second penguin was.

"BOO!" The soldiers jumped, startled by the second penguin who jumped from behind the first. The two female penguins laughed joyfully, though the eldest one tried resisting for the sake of being polite.

"My apologies," she said, almost inaudibly. Her green eyes avoided any chance of eye contact. "My sister enjoys a good joke every now and again. I hope she didn't startle you too badly."

"That's alright, miss!" Private chirped, happy to finally meet the sisters.

"Not to worry! In fact, we weren't startled at all!" Skipper stated cooly.

The younger of the sisters rolled her eyes, scoffing at Skipper's pride. She then began speaking in a strange language, leaving all remaining penguins, including her sister, clueless.

"Pardon? I didn't catch that." Said Private.

"Carmen is an expert when it comes to languages," The elder sister said. "I believe that was Greek…" she pondered out loud.

"It was Portuguese." Carmen said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

* * *

"See, Rai? You worry too much. They look fine. So are you going to help me with the elephants or what?" Kyle asked, walking towards the elephants. Rai reluctantly followed, still skeptical, but much less worried.

* * *

The others were obviously impressed with Carmen's ability. Yet annoyed that they won't be able to understand her whenever she speaks a foreign language. It was already a bit difficult to understand her because she had a very strange accent when she spoke English. Kowalski concluded that this was a result of being able to speak so many languages, most likely since a fairly young age. Carmen wanted to change the subject, speaking something in Spanish about introductions.

"O, right, sorry… I'm Addie." Said the green-eyed penguin.

"I'm Skipper. Allow me to introduce my team. Men, fall in!" Like a well-oiled machine, the penguins shifted from their disorganized grouping into a horizontal line in height order. "State your names and occupations!"

"Private, special operations." Private peeped, giving a salute. The sisters couldn't help but grin at the military life-style the penguins had.

"…'Ey!" Rico smiled and waved with his usual crazy look.

"That's Rico, he's our weapons expert. He doesn't talk much, but he is a vital member of the team." Stated Skipper. After the introduction, Rico also gave a salute.

"Kowalski, tactics expert." And he too gave a salute.

"It's great to meet you all!" Said Carmen warmly. "Yo, Adds, maybe we should have used a military fashion as well!" She said, laughing as she saluted. Addie only smiled at the troops.

"What is this that is ringing my ear?" Asked a heavily accented ring-tailed lemur.

"I knew I forgot something!" Skipper muttered with annoyance.

"Presenting your royal highness, self proclaimed king of the lemurs, etc, etc, King Julian XIII." Exhaled an aye-aye tiredly.

"Hi! I like new neighbors!" Popping in between Private and Addie was a small brown Goodman's Mouse lemur.

"Mort, get away from my new worshippers! You might scare them off with your annoying-ness!" Shouted Julien.

"So who's the squirrel?" Asked Carmen rudely. Julien shot a glare that lasted a second before laughing loudly.

"You silly flightless bird. I am not what you call a 'squirrel'. I am King Julien XIII, king of the lemurs, which I am! Me!" Julien posed majestically, though the penguins appeared unimpressed.

"Hey, Kowalski?" nudged Carmen.

"Yes?"

"We're not in Antarctica anymore, right?" She questioned.

"Affirmative."

"Isn't this America?"

"That it is."

"You guys have a democratic system, right?"

"Correct."

"It's been that way since the end of the Revolutionary war in 1783." Addie added.

"Meaning no kings, and the people vote for their leader?" Carmen continued.

"Yup."

Carmen and Addie put a flipper to their beak, pretending to think.

"Hmmm…. Interesting." They said, staring at Julien, who was ignoring everything they were saying.

"What's that? You began talking a talk about… what's it called again, Maurice?"

"Democracy," answered the aye-aye.

"Ah, yes, democrapee, then I just went out the zone." He said.

"You mean you 'zoned out?" Asked Private.

"Yes! That is the phrase! Thank you, smaller penguin!"

Everyone rolled their eyes except Julien, and Mort, of course.

"I'm rather nervous at the fact there's a 'ruler' at this establishment who does not even know the meaning of the word 'Democracy'. My sincerest apologies, sir, but I'm only being truthful when I say…" Addie took a deep breath before saying what she dared say, "a ruler who knows not of other forms of government is an ignorant ruler, and thus a dangerous ruler." Addie practically peeped this, hoping that no one heard what she had said. Everyone in the group, and those who had the incredible hearing ability to overhear Addie's words gasped, or showed some other sign of shock. Carmen physically exclaimed what the other penguins exclaimed mentally: "Speak the truth! I'm so proud I could cry!" Carmen said dramatically and giving Addie a big hug. Addie on the other hand, had the color combination of black and red; mortified at what she told Julien, who was now steaming with anger. And who can blame him?

"You dare call your king 'ignorant?!" He screeched. Addie flinched. She mentally slapped herself for saying something so stupid out loud. But when it came to what she knew was right, ethically or logically, she was powerless to her natural habit to blurt it out. Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private took a fighting stance in front of Addie, in case this turned out to be one of Julien's infamous 'freak-outs'.

"Ignorant _and _dangerous!" corrected Carmen.

"Carmen!" Addie scolded firmly. With that, Julian's attitude went beyond his steaming point. Before Julien had the chance to say or do anything, tranquilizing darts were shot at him, causing his eyelids to become heavy.

"Mommy? Can I have my milky-milk?" He said dizzily before falling back, unconscious.

* * *

"I guess it was a good thing you forgot your shovel…" Kyle said from outside the penguin's habitat. Rai was frozen with the tranquilizing gun in her hand. The only movement she had was from her quivering hand, and her chest bouncing up and down from her 'fight or flight' response (also including running from the habitat to the warehouse for the tranquilizer gun and back). She knew there was going to be a fight, but that display she witnessed was completely unexpected.


	3. Apologies

"And the lemur started having some sort of tantrum! He was screeching, and it looked like he was going to attack the penguins!" Rai was in the office speaking with Alice, who was a tad upset about her taking and using a tranquilizer without permission.

"Look, Rai, you did the right thing, but this stuff happens often. That lemur is just a spoiled pain in the butt; he doesn't attack the other lemurs, but threatens them, and reminds them of his place as the alpha male with vocalization." Alice explained.

"….oh…" Rai said simply, with guilt and embarrassment. "H-he's ok, right? I didn't use an overdose?"

"Thankfully he's fine." Alice replied. She added a chuckle.

"I told you there was something up with the lemurs and penguins. Quite possibly the other animals too."

"It's weird. How on earth did they manage to get into the penguin's habitat?" Come to think of it, the penguins looked as though they were in some sort of martial arts stance. But Rai dismissed this thought as ridiculous and impossible.

"Well I told you to watch over them. Maybe if you had, you would have found that out." Alice said with an 'I-told-you-so' look, which wasn't really fair. Rai is a zookeeper who tends to the many other animals in the zoo, **not** a baby sitter. Rai felt she was in enough trouble already, so she refused to remind her superior what her **real** job is.

"Well, again, I'm sorry." Rai said, slightly hunched over on her chair. Alice looked at her from across her desk.

"It's fine. No harm done. And like I said, you did the right thing, you're just not familiar with the animals and their personalities yet." Alice said.

"Now stop assuming the worse-case-scenario, and get back to work."

"Aye-aye, captain!" Rai saluted.

"Was that a lemur pun?"

"Yes. Yes it was." And with that, Rai left the office and continued her work.

* * *

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, lo siento mucho, mucho, mucho, I'm sorry!" Addie rapidly spoke, repeating the same thing for three minutes now at the half-conscious ring-tailed lemur. Julien could have been much angrier if he wasn't in the super comfortable vibrating bed he laid on the last time he was taken to the research center.

"Why did you say what you said in the first place?" Asked Maurice.

"I was merely suggesting doing research on- o, wait!" Addie grabbed a book from an unknown source entitled 'Great Leaders Throughout History', and handed it to Julien.

"Um… what is this?" Julien asked as he rotated the book.

"It's a book about different leaders throughout world history, like George Washington, Attila the Hun, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar-"

"Julien the Great? I did not know I was mentioned in a wook!"

"You mean a 'book"? Maurice corrected.

"Yes!"

"No, it's Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar." Addie said.

"But who could be greater than I, King Julien the Great?" Asked Julien with a jovial grin.

"D-do you even know how to read?" Addie asked as she raised an eyebrow.

"Why would I read?" Julien retorted.

"So that you can learn, and go on adventures, and-"

"Lady, we already go on adventures without books." Skipper said.

"And one can also learn through observation and deductive reasoning." Kowalski added.

"Let's not forget our overall experiences!" Private said. Addie stood surprised at the animals.

"So… none of you know how to read?" Asked Addie, disappointed.

"Well our simian ally, Phil can read. But he just reads the newspaper." Skipper responded.

"Nothing more than lies and manipulations from the human species." Skipper said with a cautious tone, shifting his eyes as if the conspiricists he was speaking of were watching his every move.

"Wow…" Addie exhaled. Great. Another group that she is unable to speak with about all the great novels that changed her ways of thinking.

"But you can read! And your sister can speak and translate languages!" Private pointed out.

"We can definitely find you a place on our team… _if_ and only _**if **_you think you can go through our intense daily training and maintain your sanity, or whatever is left of it!" Skipper warned.

* * *

It was five minutes to closing time, and the sky was dark. The city itself was bright, but slowly dimming. Kyle and Rai have been watching their assigned animals for about half an hour. Kyle got a bit of a kick out of the lemurs, which had been goofing around all day. Rai on the other hand spent her thirty minutes watching the penguins smile and wave. She would have fallen asleep standing up if it weren't for the occasional tourist asking where the bathroom was, or where they could get an ice cream cone. One child asked,

"Is that all the do? Waddle, smile and wave?"

Rai was wondering the same thing. She read that every species of penguin was exceptionally bold, social, and playful. Yet from what she observed from these past thirty minutes was not the case at all. They were somewhat social, but only towards each other, exchanging quick squawks and other odd noises with each other, and the newer penguins.

_DING! DONNG~! DING!_

"Ugh, finally!" Rai exhaled as the tourists left.

"Dude! Today went pretty well, eh? A bit of action, checking out the animals, talking to visitors from all around the world, it went nicely, am I right?" Kyle exclaimed excitedly. Despite his energy, a loud yawn escaped his lips.

"Well, I gotta go before my roommate forces me to make dinner again. I'll see ya tomorrow, m'k?" Kyle asked as he stretched and grabbed his backpack.

"Oh, yeah. See you tomorrow." Rai answered, staring into space.

"Yeah. Just remember to grab a new alarm clock from "Zoovineirs", since you destroyed your old clock this morning." He snickered.

"Aw, shut up." Rai punched his arm playfully. "Just promise me you won't make me go in the chimpanzee cages again, and I promise to wake up earlier." Rai shuddered, not wanting to think about today's events. Kyle laughed harder.

"Either those guys really like you, or really hate you." Kyle said as he walked past the front gate and into a taxi. Rai gave a loud sigh as she stared at the penguins.

"I'll bet you guys get pretty bored around here, eh?" She asked. The penguins stared back at her.

"Haven't you ever …" She stopped herself, wondering why she was talking to a bunch of birds.

"I'll see you peepers tomorrow." She said as she turned to leave.

"O, and stop taking the tourist's popcorn, will ya? If you want something different to eat just squawk twice and I'll try getting you some cod." She stated plainly as she walked away. She was surprised to hear the youngest of the penguins squawk three times. Rai turned toward the penguins and smiled.

"Right. Salmon it is then." As she walked out the gate and down the street, she missed Skipper slap Private for his actions.


	4. The Course

All the penguins were at the headquarters beneath the platform. Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private were going over something that was, as Skipper described it, 'classified information that should be discussed by authorized personnel only'. Meaning that Carmen and Addie have yet to become a part of the flock quite yet. While the group was discussing this unknown information, Carmen was sitting on her bunk above Addie's, and Addie was reading a book entitled 'Surviving Military Basic Training'.

"What are you doing?" Carmen asked, poking her head in Addie's bunk.

"Reading about military training."

"Training? Does it tell us what things will be like around here?

"Well…" Addie turned the book over so she could read the synopsis on the back, or at least the last sentence, which pretty much summed everything up.

"_We'll discuss what the basic training is, where it is, what you can expect, what you should bring, how you should act, and some basic tips on surviving 6 to 12 weeks of 'Hell_."

Carmen stared at Addie with her mouth agape, wanting to either say something, or scream, Addie wasn't quite sure, but no matter the intention, no sound came.

"Maybe they're just exaggerating!" Addie stated to comfort Carmen, who was looking doubtful.

"And even if they're not… come on, what could be more difficult than surviving in Antarctica? We had to learn to use intelligence, instinct, agility and strength. We'll be fine." Addie said, and this was enough to make Carmen feel much better. And with that accomplishment, she continued with her reading, when one passage caught her eye.

"Listen to this, _'__The training programs are scientifically and psychologically designed to tear apart the "civilian" and build from scratch a proud, physically fit, and dedicated member of the United States Armed Forces. Go into it with a little foreknowledge, the right attitude, and a few tips, and you'll graduate with no problems. You'll find that boot camp simply gets just a little bit easier each and every day."_ Addie quoted.

"Fascinating." Carmen replied sarcastically.

"Well, I think that the guys are going over some sort of obstacle course, which is why they don't want us in the discussion.

"You'd think they would have planned this before we got here."

"They're probably double-checking to make sure it's ok before we go through it."

"And by 'ok' you mean…?"

"Hopefully safe, yet traumatizing." Addie said.

"Fun."

"Hey, like I said, we've got this in the bag. They have nothing on us." Addie assured.

"That's what you think." Skipper stood before the two penguins with a smirk.

"Time to separate the men from the boys."

"uhhhh…"

Skipper face palmed. "You know what I mean. Kowalski! Explain the course."

"It's a simple obstacle course going through the entire zoo that strategically tests all areas of your abilities, whether mental or physical." Kowalski pointed to a copy of the zoo map.

"The course is basically a scavenger hunt. There is a crate with a lock at each stage of the obstacle course that contains a clue where the key is. You will begin by finding a way to escape from our exhibit, and continue to your next destination." He explained. The penguins nodded. It sounded more time-consuming than difficult, but if there's one thing that wild animals know, it's not to underestimate anyone or anything.

"So when do we start?" Carmen asked.

"Right about..." Skipper looked at his timer.

"NOW!"

"Wait, what?" Kowalski took out a device and pushed a button that opened a trap door from both the sister's beds, sending them down a slide to the platform.

"How the tuna did we go up? I know for sure we went _down _a slide!" Carmen ruffled her feathers in confusion, knowing that this was physically impossible.

"Let's not waste time on that. We just have to finish the obstacle course. It'll take both our abilities to get through this, so we'll have to stay together, rather than fall for the temptation of splitting up in order to cover more ground." Addie figured.

"I couldn't have said it better myself. Now let's find a way out of here. If anything, the penguins probably already have some sort of tunnel…" Said Carmen as she searched the area, but to find the tunnel under the food bowl closed off.

"Or, you know, we could take advantage of the oil in our feathers and squeeze through the bars," Addie suggested.

"Right." Carmen took the lead and Addie followed as they approached and struggled through the bars. When they reached the lemur habitat, they hit a brick wall… literally.

"Ok, genius, how do we get past this?" Carmen asked. Addie took in every detail she could, but found no solution. They would have gotten on top of each other to form a tower, and the top penguin could have pulled the other over the wall. But alas, they weren't tall enough to do just that.

"Let's try the chimpanzee exhibit." Addie replied, sliding on her belly to the opposite side of the perimeter. The two squeezed through the bars and scanned the habitat until a glint caught their eye. A brass key was hanging on a branch on the tree in the middle of the cage. The difficult part: Climbing, and trying to get around Mason and Phil without waking them. Carmen, being the strongest of the sisters, lifted Addie to the nearest tree branch. The rest was up to her to get the key.

_

Meanwhile, the elite force of penguins was watching their progress.

"Addie seems to be climbing the tree rather skillfully. At least as well anyone with flippers can climb." Private observed through the periscope. Kowalski was taking notes while Skipper was speaking into a walkie-talkie.

_

Addie inched her way toward the key, with Phil just at her left, and the key to her right. She reached, and-

"ACK!" Phil grabbed Addie still asleep, and held her like a teddy bear.

'_CHEESE AND CRACKERS!' _Addie screamed mentally. Carmen was still under the tree watching with terror. Addie tried to pull away from Phil, but to no prevail. The chimpanzee had a tight grip. She pulled harder, and Phil turned over on his side with the hand that was gripping onto Addie over the side of the branch. Carmen nearly gasped as she saw the chimp's grip loosen, and Addie was… smiling? Phil let go of the flightless bird. As she dropped, Carmen closed her eyes in fright, while Addie positioned herself in a way so that before she passed one of the branches, she took hold of a more flexible part of the branch which catapulted into the air, toward the key, over the entire tree with Addie landing with a loud smack. Carmen heard the smack and opened her eyes to see her sister on the ground.

"Addie!" She ran over. "How many fingers do you see?" She asked, holding up a flipper.

" Y-you don't have fingers." Addie murmured as she got up and rubbed her head.

"We'll try again, but if you want I can climb this time." Carmen said with guilt.

"No need." Addie said as she revealed the key, which was hanging over her flipper. Carmen hugged her sister tightly, only to get sounds of suffocation as a response. "I love ya, you dork!" Carmen exclaimed.

_

Private let out a loud cheer as he watched the sisters get up and walk toward the crate in the hollow opening of the tree. Rico and Kowalski joined in as well.

"Well done, my opposable thumbed friend." Skipper said into the walkie-talkie.

"That was quite the show. Do you think they'll be as lucky the next time around?" Mason asked through the speaker.

"Hard to say, but the recruits show potential." Skipper replied.

_

Carmen unlocked the crate, and the two pulled on the door tightly to reveal a bright pink feather.

"Obviously the flamingo habitat." Carmen stated. "There aren't any brick walls around that habitat, so we can just squeeze in again." Addie nodded in response.

The sisters glided across the ground and did as they planned. All the flamingos were asleep, their wings tucked in tightly and using them to shield their heads.

"Do you see the key?" Addie asked.

"The clue most likely implies that the key is in possession with one of the penguins. Do you remember what shade of pink the feather was?" Carmen asked, thankful for the precious little light that was shed around the zoo.

"It appeared to be very dark, nearly red." Addie described.

"I'll search the north, you take the south." Carmen said.

"I'm way ahead of you." Addie strained from across several feet in front of a large flamingo with the same coloration as the feather. Carmen smiled, thinking that this was going to be easier than she thought.

"Way to go, Addie!" She whispered. "But how are we going to get the key without waking him?" Carmen asked, eyeing the glittering key grasped in the flamingo's lifted talons.

"Remember that practical joke you played on Uncle Vernon?" Addie asked.

"You mean-? Ohh!" Carmen grew a devious smile. "You have the feather?"

"Of course." Addie replied, handing the flamingos' feather over.

-

"What are they doing?" Kowalski asked, as Private hadn't told him any observations to note.

"Sorry. I'm not quite sure. They're using the feather we left them, and… wicked brilliant!" Private laughed.

"What? What?" Private stepped aside as Kowalski lunged for the periscope.

"Aha! Very clever!" He exclaimed as he observed Carmen gently glide the feather up and down the flamingo's standing leg. It seemed to quiver a bit, so Carmen gave the flamingo a chance to settle down. After a couple seconds, she repeated the same thing, and stopped when the flamingo's curled talons drop the key to scratch his 'itchy' leg. With a sense of accomplishment, Addie pulled the key from the water that the flamingo was standing in, and headed toward a bush where she would have sworn she saw a crate… and there it was!


	5. Shellfish Fetish

"What the-?!" Carmen and Addie looked at the plastic lemur foot in utter confusion.

"Ok… now we know that the next clue is in the lemur exhibit, but how do we get in?" Carmen asked. Addie scanned her surroundings thoughtfully, a flipper to her beak. She then gasped and smiled, and waddled as quickly as she could toward a bush of bamboo.

"Help me with this, please?" Addie pleaded as she pulled on a stick of the plant. With Carmen's help, they got a single stick from the ground.

"What's this for?" She asked.

"You'll see." Addie slid on her belly towards the lemur habitat with the stick of bamboo dragging behind her. When the sisters reached the brick wall, they immediately stopped.

"So what's your big plan to get us over there?" Carmen asked.

"Do you still have that plastic lemur foot with you?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Just in case we need it." Addie shrugged. She took the bamboo and aimed it toward the wall.

"Hang on to the end of the bamboo." Carmen obeyed.

"Now run!"

"What?" Before Carmen had time to think, the two were running straight at the wall.

"What the heck are you thinkin-" Before Carmen could finish her sentence; Addie planted the bamboo firmly on the ground an inch away from the wall. The stick bent over, and flung Carmen and Addie over the wall and onto Julien's bouncy-bounce. The sisters were wide eyed with shock, and then began laughing hysterically.

"That was awesome!" Carmen shouted before Addie covered her mouth with a flipper to keep her quiet. Too late. Mort was awake, and immediately spotted the plastic lemur foot.

"De _FEET_!" Mort darted at the penguins, or rather, the ones in possession of a replica of Julien's foot. The penguins screamed and tussled off the bouncy- bounce, and away from Mort, but Mort was on their tail, and in great desire to have the replica. Addie glanced back at Mort and noticed a collar around his neck with the key jingling around.

"Carmen! The key!" Addie pointed out. Carmen watched Mort, and noticed that his eyes were fixed on the foot.

"I have a plan! Addie, take a breather, I have this under control."

"Got it." Addie slid away from the scene, and Carmen climbed up on Julien's throne.

"Hey, Mort! You want the foot right?" She teased, waving the foot before him.

"FEEEETT!" Mort jumped as forcefully as his little legs could take him. Carmen found her opportunity and dove at Mort.

"And this little piggy went to the zoo!" Carmen joked when she used the foot to karate-kick Mort back at the ground, knocking him unconscious.

"Sorry I had to do that, buddy." She said as she unbuckled the collar and took the key.

"Well done!" Addie complimented.

"But you know we could have just asked him to trade the key for the foot." Addie said.

"Are you kidding? That creature went ballistic! There was no way we could have gotten the opportunity to speak with him, let a lone catch out breath without getting tackled!" Carmen shouted.

"True." Addie agreed. "Is it me, or are the lemurs really deep sleepers?"

"Addie, I expected you of all people to understand this. Julien hates physical labor, as well as waking up and seriously needs his beauty sleep, and Maurice would be exhausted from waiting on his every whim. Mort was the only one who woke up because he's always hyper." Carmen explained.

"I solve puzzles, not personalities." Addie retorted.

"Whatever, Miss Anti-social. Come on, I think I passed the crate over at the plastic volcano." Carmen said as the two approached and opened the crate to reveal a pearl.

_

"A pearl?" Kowalski questioned. Where on Earth could Skipper have gotten a pearl?

"Marlene found it while trying to open one of her oysters. She suggested it would be a bit more difficult clue," Skipper replied. The other three watched the recruits' next actions anxiously.

_

"Well, puzzle-solver?"

"Pearls come from oysters. The question is, who eats oysters?" Thankfully Addie took the time earlier that day to list the animals that inhabited the zoo on her notepad.

"The Asian Otter, of course! Come on, it's just a few feet over." Addie said as she and Carmen climbed over the volcano, jumped to the ground, and rolled over at the last second to absorb the impact of the fall.

Once they got in, they gently submersed themselves in the water to avoid making splashes, or any other sounds.

"Ok, if I'm right, all we have to do is open any oysters we can find. The clue should be in there." Addie said. But when they looked down at the bottom of the water tank, they found themselves surrounded by shellfish. Carmen released a groan.

"Seriously?"

"We mind as well start now." Addie swam to the nearest oyster and forced it open.

"Nothing." Carmen opened several at once, and still no clue. Fruitless effort went on for fifteen minutes, and all they achieved was getting themselves riled up. They went up for air and-

"Ow!" Carmen was hit on the head with something. It was… a fish?

"Who would hit me in the head with a fish?" Carmen asked in disbelief.

"Wait a minute… that's it!" Addie said excitedly, getting out of the water.

_

"Aw Marlene, you're supposed to have them figure it out themselves!" Skipper lectured on the walkie-talkie.

"It was just a little push, Skipper. Come on, they've been at it for fifteen minutes." Marlene replied.

"It appears they've figured it out." Private said from the periscope. Rico mumbled in disappointment, thinking that this clue was pretty easy. O well. They had to mess up some time.

_

"Aw man, I feel dumb. Otters _eat_ oysters. They were referring to the _food bowl_." Addie said. The duo made their way to the otter's food bowl, and sure enough, there was the key. And the crate was… nowhere to be seen.

"But the only place we haven't checked was-" Carmen paused as a loud snore echoed through the otter's private quarters.

"No way!" Addie's habit kicked in again. "Going into our neighbor's habitats without permission is bad enough, but I refuse to enter someone's private room and searching through their belongings for some stupid obstacle course!" Addie crossed her flippers over her chest and took a seat near the water.

"Come on, Addie, it's not as bad as you make it out to be. We're just running in and out, it's no problem!" Carmen said.

"Regardless of time capacity, it's still intrusion." Addie snapped bitterly. Carmen, shocked by her sister's sudden change in character, took a step back.

"Fine. But since I have possession of the key, I'll go in and search for the crate." Carmen said.

"It's your decision. You have free will, and I know better than to attempt to persuade the most stubborn member of the family." Addie replied, turning away. Carmen sighed. 'There's no way we're related', she thought as she entered the room. The first thing hat caught Carmen's attention was how nicely decorated the room was. The walls were covered with paintings and all sorts of other artistic designs. Another loud snore from the otter snapped Carmen back into reality. She searched about quietly, able to tell immediately that the otter is not a morning person.

To Carmen's utter disappointment, she found zip-zero, nada. No crate to be seen anywhere. But before she made her leave, Carmen noticed the edge of some sort of opening sticking out from under a rug. She removed the rug and before her was a sewer tunnel, or a drainage system blocked off by a barred lid. And wouldn't you know it? Between the iron bars and with the precious little light the seeped into the room, Carmen could make out the features of a box. The crate! With a hard tug, Carmen lifted the lid and dragged it to the side. She unlocked and opened the crate to reveal a note, or a code of some sort. Great. Of all the clues, it had to be in a written language, which only Addie can break. As Carmen put everything back the way it was, she hoped that Addie wasn't too upset that she wouldn't finish the course.

'Ah, the curse of being an animal with no human education.' She thought. How Addie learned to read was still shrouded in mystery. All Carmen really remembers was the day Addie returned from a research facility with her first book shielded within her flippers. This was before she learned that stealing was a 'sin' as Addie put it. Even though theft had saved their family's lives from starvation on more than one occasion, Addie refused to do anything that was considered 'morally wrong', even if it meant risking her life. Carmen didn't understand what goes through her sister's head. Most of the time she didn't even bother with it. Shaking the memory from her mind, Carmen found herself back outside.

"I told you it was going to be quick, o but do you listen? No~!" Carmen nagged. Addie rolled her eyes. Sometimes she couldn't believe how immature Carmen was.

"The next clue is written… do you think…?" Carmen handed the paper over to Addie who stared at it thoughtfully.

"It's a puzzle. See? At the top of the paper is the word, 'kicks'. Below the word is a horizontal line, and below the line is an arrow pointing down." Addie said.

"So can you break it?"

"Kicks, line, below? No." Addie thought aloud. "Kicks over down? Kicks over below?" She began to pace. "Kicks down under!" She said excitedly.

"Meaning?"

"Down under' refers to Australia. I believe 'kicks' refers to a kangaroo. Next stop is the kangaroo exhibit!" Addie said as she headed her way to Joey's area with Carmen right behind her.


	6. You're Going Down! Under!

"Are we done after this?" Carmen asked.

"Kowalski said it goes around the entire zoo, we have a bit more to go." Carmen groaned.

"It's only been an hour and twenty-five minutes. You didn't really think this was going to be quick, did you?" Addie cocked an eyebrow.

"Let's just get this over with." Carmen said, stepping into Joey's territory.

"Where do you suppose the key is?"

"Allo, mates! Nice of ya to drop by." Said a thick Australian accented voice. The penguins looked up to see a huge kangaroo with a brass key sticking out from its pouch.

"Good evening!" Addie greeted.

"It was until your jibber-jabber woke me up." The kangaroo said irritably.

"Terribly sorry about that." Carmen said. "Hey, is it ok if we borrow that key of yours for a minute?"

"Hm…. No."

"Well why not, may I ask?" Carmen replied.

"Trespassers aren't exactly my favorite kind of visitors. Makes me mad!" Joey replied before giving the two a massive kick, and the duo flew straight into the wall on the opposite side.

"Glory be!" Carmen growled painfully.

"This will be harder than I thought." The penguins peeled off the wall and landed hard on the ground. Joey charged, and having nowhere else to go, Carmen and Addie ran up the tree in the center of the pen.

"So? What's the plan this time, _genius_?" Carmen asked, hanging on to a branch for dear life as Joey jabbed and kicked at the base of the tree.

"I… I don't know! How about helping me think once in a while?" Addie asked frantically. "The guys are insane if they think we can get the key!"

"They're insane if they think we can _survive_!" Carmen corrected.

"Ok, ok. I think I have an idea." Carmen looked at Addie with disbelief. How the heck does she come up with these plans so quickly?

"You distract Joey while I come in from a blind spot, and grab the key."

"Why do I have to distract that monstrosity?"

"He's not a monstrosity! He's just… very aggressive. And you're faster, stronger, and have more endurance than I do, so naturally, you have to hold him off!" Addie explained.

"You owe me big time." Carmen took a deep breath before letting jumping off the tree and landing on Joey's head.

"Hey! Mr. Bouncy!" She teased, making a ridiculous face that would easily upset a temperamental kangaroo.

"M'name's Joey!" Shouted the Kangaroo as he hopped from corner to corner of his pen, trying to shake Carmen off.

"Hurry up already! I can't hang on!" Carmen shouted.

"I can't! He won't stand still!"

"What? You can't catch a moving target?"

"Not when he's thrashing around!" Carmen jumped off, and pulled on Joey's tail. Joey immediately began chasing Carmen, who was just barely hanging on to his tail, to the point that she was about to puke her guts out.

"Hang on just a bit longer! I think he's getting dizzy!" But he wasn't. And Carmen eventually wobbled off, only to be kicked at a tree branch, which knocked the wind right out of her.

"One down." Joey stated, looking for Addie. He lowered his head and saw her reaching for the key in his pouch.

"Uh… hi!" Addie grinned sheepishly as she took the key and ran off screaming, Joey right behind her.

"Give me a break! I just wanted the key!"

"Get back here you little trouble-making dingo!" Addie, sliding on her belly, richoshed off from wall to wall and to the tree, and kept the pattern going until she eventually outran Joey.

"Carmen!" She chucked the key to Carmen, who caught it smoothly. She gave a big smile, waving the key in the air.

"Nice catch!" Addie, being distracted, wasn't watching where she was going, and crashed into a collection of boulders.

"My… head…"

"A lot more is going to hurt than just your head, mate!" Said Joey, lifting the petrified Addie, and drop-kicking her at Carmen with perfect aim, sending both to the ground at Joey's feet.

"Wait! Wait! Wait! We just want to open the crate with a clue inside, and we'll get out, I swear!" Carmen pledged.

"The crate? Why didn't you girls say so in the first place?" Joey asked.

"….what?"

"Yeah. That ugly thing's been blocking my view. Do ya mind taking the lil' bugga with you?"

"Ummm. Sure." Addie answered.

"You realize that we're going to need serious medical after this, right?" Carmen said.

"You didn't say anything 'bout taking the box. Those dang penguins put it in here and it's been irritatin' me all day!"

The sisters were shocked, stupefied, and all other synonyms with their mouth agape. These animals really are crazy, aren't they?

"Well, thanks for the crate!" Carmen and Addie said, dragging it out of the perimeter.

"No worries! Come by for a visit every now and then, y'hear me?" Joey said. "O, and welcome to the neighborhood!"

"Thanks! We will!" The said. Once they were out, Joey returned to sleep, and the sisters gave each other a look beyond word comprehension.

"That was…. Weird." They said in unison.

* * *

Meanwhile, the chimps, lemurs, a couple of flamingos, and Marlene were with the penguins watching the whole thing through the periscope and laughing 'till the water they were drinking squirted out their noses…er, nostrils and etc. Leave it to Joey to make a scene. Even Kowalski, and the somewhat horrified Private were chuckling at the unexpected twist of events.

* * *

"Ah, the bruises will heal. Anyway, open the crate! Where do we go next? Surely it'll be better than getting beaten to a pulp." Carmen said.

Up next was the gorilla exhibit, which was much easier. It was basically an arm wrestle for the key and the crate. Carmen won, and the clue led to the polar bear habitat. Another simple sneak-in-and-get-out situation. This led to the Alligator Lake, which was more annoying than anything. The gators wouldn't shut up. Though Addie found most of their life stories fascinating, Carmen felt that tea and cookies could wait until morning, or at least until after they caught some shut eye. Though both sisters believed it would be a long while before they could catch up on sleep. The next stage was the exotic birdcages, where Addie had a riddle contest with an ancient Macaw and his grand daughter. Later they visited the reptile house, where they learned that chameleons were actually friendly, but very aggressive when it came to inviting neighbors over for a house warming party, and a so called 'quick' game of hide-and-seek. After running errand after errand, the two were exhausted, and just wanted to go back to HQ and sleep for the next twelve hours.

"Ok… what does this clue say?" Carmen asked, dragging herself along the pavement.

"The note says, "No use looking where something is missing. Are you missing anything?" Addie read aloud.

"So then the next destination should have been the giraffe habitat, but Melman the giraffe went missing a while before, right? But what do they mean by, 'are you missing anything'?" Carmen asked. Addie took out her sketch of the zoo map, each destination with a check next to them.

"It means we're done. Let's go to sleep." Addie said with a weak smile.

"Finally!" Let's get going!" Just like that, it seemed Carmen got a second wind. Addie, however, collapsed with a soft snore.

"Come on, lazy pengy! Let's get out of here! We're on enemy territory!" Said Carmen before realizing her last statement sounded a lot like something Skipper would say.

"They're getting to me! MY SANITY IS GONE!! GAAAH!" She screamed.

"I'm…I'm coming" Addie said tiredly. "Just please stop screaming, or my head will explode." The two then dragged themselves to HQ.

* * *

**Author's Note: Something weird I noticed is that in the episode, "Assault and Batteries", they show Joey with a pouch. Yet male kangaroos don't have pouches. Just a heads up. O, and hopefully the next chapter will be done by tomorrow, if not, it'll definitely be up this weekend! Yay!**


	7. Membership

**Author's Note: DANG, this is long! D: The next chapter is coming together painfully slowly, but I'll see what I can get done. In the mean time, enjoy this chapter... though the beginning seems a bit too (dang, what's the word I'm looking for?) sugary for my taste. Hopefully you'll like it. Like I said enjoy... because for every frown that is formed upon your face, a cookie is mistaken for a cupcake! HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN?**

"Surprise"! Carmen and Addie fell back on the ground with wide eyes. Every animal in the zoo, including Joey and the gators, greeted them near HQ with big, warm smiles.

"W-what is this?" Carmen demanded.

"You didn't think we'd let you waltz right into our community without formal introductions and a proper welcome, did you?" Skipper asked, raising an eyebrow.

"B-but the obstacle-course-" Addie started.

"Not only distracted you while we prepared, but you also got to know some of the neighbors in the process." Private explained.

"Kowalski! Course results!" Skipper commanded.

"Stealth: A-, Logic: A, Speed: A-, Strength: B+, teamwork: A, Dedication: A. All impressive marks." Kowalski reported, reading off his notes.

"Just try to keep up the good work, and soon enough you'll improve where we found weaknesses." Skipper said. To think, that whole time, Carmen and Addie were being observed at their best not just by the penguins, but also by the rest of the zoo community. No doubt this would make their place on the team official, but the neighbors also received fairly good first impressions to make the new neighbors settlement in their new home easier.

"That's so sweet!" The two sisters said, and Carmen began thanking everyone in every language she knew.

"Don't thank us," Marlene said. "Thank the guys. They put this all together!" She pointed to the team.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! It was Private's idea." Skipper said, and Private blushed with merriment.

"But Kowalski designed the course. He put the whole thing together." Private pointed to the ingenious penguin. It was Kowalski's turn to blush, rather embarrassed.

"Well… a plan is nothing unless it can be made into an action. We all had our parts." Kowalski said bashfully, yet logically. Carmen and Addie decided that it was only fair to give each of the guys a hug and a sincere thank you. Yes, even Addie, the anti-social penguin felt the need to show her _now _fellow soldiers her gratitude. The team felt uneasy at the sentimental situation, after all, they weren't the kind of peo- er, animals, to get emotional. They were thankful when Julien interrupted the moment.

"Enough of the mushy love-chunks! For I, King Julien the Great…" The lemurs and penguins couldn't help but to snicker at the new nickname Addie had indirectly given him.

"… say it is time to be shaking our bodies, yes!" Julien shouted joyfully, and on cue, Mort turned on the radio to play some very up-beat tunes. And thus, the big housewarming party had begun. Despite the sister's exhaustion, they were too excited to turn down a rare occasion for the authoritative penguins to be throwing a party.

"Just don't be expecting many parties, so enjoy it while you can." Skipper warned.

"Well, I guess this will have to get pretty crazy, eh?" Carmen said with a devilish smile.

"_Nooooo_!" Addie tackled Carmen down before she could do anything. A few bystanders stared at her strangely.

"You do _not _want her to get a party going crazy." She answered simply.

* * *

The party had lasted an hour and a half, thirty minutes before the zoo opened. Every animal went back to their pens and made themselves comfortable, preparing for another day. It was after everyone left that Addie had finally asked,

"Permission to speak, sir?"

"Permission granted." Skipper said.

"May Carmen and I pleasecatch up on our sleep?"

"But it's your first day, soldier!" Soldier… Addie repeated the word mentally. She and Carmen made it in, but they were exhausted. She didn't want to let down the team. Honestly she didn't know why she was so tired, considering there were days like this back in Antarctica. Perhaps it was the environmental change? The climate is a definite possibility. It could be the food. Maybe it was more psychological than physical. Or maybe emotional. Come to think of it…

"Addie?" Skipper waved a flipper before her eyes, but no response.

"She tends to drift in and out of reality." Carmen explained.

"Ah." Skipper noticed the wheels turning in Addie's mind, no doubt looking for a solution without letting down the team. He finally gave in.

"After morning training we'll have a twenty minute break. You two may have your little _nappy time_ then." With a sigh of relief, the three joined Kowalski, Rico and Private for the morning routine.

* * *

"Hmm. Could I add relish and ketchup?" Kyle asked.

"Only one." Rai replied.

"I guess with ketchup it wouldn't be too bad. Yeah, I'd eat my right foot under those circumstances." Kyle said. The two friends laughed at their crazy game of impossibilities.

"Ok, then. If you were a sailor trapped in the middle of the ocean- o hey! We're early!"

"…What?" Rai shot a glare at Kyle.

"I said… we're early?" Kyle knew that look. Rai wanted to kill him very, very badly. Slowly and painfully. Though Kyle was a morning person, Rai was not. The undeniable fact that Rai wouldn't get up unless he woke her eventually made Kyle into much less of a morning person because he had to try surviving his friend's savage behavior every day before noon.

"I could've had at least thirty more minutes of rest, and we're early?! The gate is locked, dude!"

"Calm down! The fact that my dad is part of the zoo community tends to come in handy. I have a key right here." Said Kyle as he opened the gate.

"Besides, you know what they say! The early bird catches the worm."

"Yeah… but the night owl hunts down the early bird!" Shouted Rai as she chased Kyle throughout the entire zoo.

After the run, Kyle and Rai's endorphins were up, and they were awake and ready to work.

"Ok, I'll be right over! I just need to grab a couple of shovels, you get their breakfast." Said Rai as she walked past the penguins. She did a double take, thinking for sure that they were doing Karate. But after rubbing her eyes, she only saw normal, non-warrior-like penguins staring curiously at her.

"Um… right. Good morning. Um… I'll feed you guys in a second, ok? I just… Yeah." Rai quickened her pace to grab the shovels and a bucket of fish. When she returned, the penguins were surprised to see something new in their food bowl.

"I told you I'd bring you some salmon. I had to check with someone at the research center to see if it's ok. I had to buy _fresh_, as in not yet packaged salmon. I believe you owe me quite a bit of money." Rai teased as the birds savored the delicious treat.

"You're welcome. But don't expect this to happen again. It was hard enough getting permission from the employee." She blinked a few times.

"AGH! Why am I talking to penguins? You don't even know what I'm talking about!" She marched her way to the elephant habitat mumbling something along the lines of, "it's too early for this", and that the stress was really getting to her. The penguins got a good chuckle from that display.

"That girl is a mystery, dipped in drama-sauce and sprinkled with a comical spice!" Skipper said.

"Didn't you say something similar about Alice?" Private asked.

"I believe he said that Alice is 'a riddle, wrapped in mystery and, dipped in nasty sauce." Kowalski said, reading the quote from his notes. Carmen and Addie looked at him curiously.

"Do you write every observation down?" Addie asked.

"Of course! There may be a very crucial period of time when we'll have to refer to them." Kowalski answered. Addie smiled.

"You're starting to sound more like a detective than a strategist, Kowalski." Said Addie. Carmen was grinning behind her, unable to keep herself from the conversation.

"O Addie, you joker! You know as well as anyone, and have even told me a few times that 'one must always observe, never see, and listen, never hear. Or is your brain still fried from last night?" She teased, patting Addie on the head as if Carmen were the elder sister. Addie simply rolled her eyes.

"Do you even know where I learned that?"

Carmen Shrugged.

"Sherlock Holmes." Carmen and the others tilted their heads with confusion.

"World's greatest fictional detective?" A couple of crickets walked by, unintentionally creating an odd feeling, like cluelessness.

"Right… can't read." She said, hunching over sadly.

"No time to sulk, soldier, we need to resume our morning training! Then within a few days, you'll be ready to carry out your first mission." Skipper said.

"What is it?" Carmen asked with excitement.

"You'll know when we're done training. Now then, GO! GO! GO! Evasive maneuvers!"

* * *

Training was done, which meant Addie and Carmen could get some shut-eye at last. The zoo was officially opened, and extremely busy, which gave no time for further training. The exhausted new recruits were thankful after hearing this news and immediately drifted to a good long nap on the platform, back to back. It was almost comical because they had an appearance as two guards who fell asleep on the job. Unfortunately, this also meant a lot of work for the zookeepers.

"Kyle, I need you at the otter exhibit. These kids won't stop throwing food at the animals, and I need backup!" Alice's voice spoke from the walkie-talkie.

"I'm a little busy here, Alice!" Kyle said, trying to gain order at the petting zoo. Kids were pushing each other; fighting over food pellets to feed to the animals; one was riding on one of the goats, which was trying with all his might to buck off the little pain in the neck.

"Aw come on! What kind of kid would even think about doing that?" Kyle asked aloud. While all this was going on, Rai was presenting in front of a group of kids with several reptiles from the Galapagos Islands.

"Yeah, uh, kids aren't really my forte. You sure I shouldn't switch off with Kyle? He's better at this kind of stuff!" Rai asked a colleague.

"Kyle's busy keeping kids from riding the goats at the petting zoo. Knowing you, you'd be screaming in the kid's ears with a mega-phone. It's safer for the kids that you're here instead of there." The colleague said.

"I'm not that dangerous." She scoffed with her eye twitching, and she resumed the presentation.

* * *

Hours passed, though for the zookeepers it felt like eternity.

"LUNCH BREAK!" Kyle shouted happily as he ran to the office to grab his packed lunch, and to the crossroads between the penguins and lemurs where Rai was supposed to meet him.

"There you are." Rai had her hands on her hips. It looked like she was waiting for a while and was on the verge of looking for Kyle herself.

"It's hard pushing past the kids and their parents, you know."

"Yeah, well it's hard explaining things in simple words. How on Earth am I supposed to describe Darwin's theory of evolution to first graders?

"I thought you were talking about species found on the Galapagos Islands today. "

"I was, but you know how kids are with their questions. They never stop asking, one thing leads to another, and the next thing you know you're talking about something that you learn in middle school, which an eight year-old could never understand." Rai said as she unwrapped her sandwich.

"True that. But at least it's starting to calm down. There are barely any visitors here."

"Nah, they're all checking out the animal show a few habitats over."

"I never thought I'd say this, but man, I hate the weekends."

"Busiest time for a zoo." Rai agreed. Then something black and white caught her eye. She got up from her sitting position and investigated the area. Black and white blurs were seen from the corner of her eye, but when she turned again: nothing. Suddenly she heard a splash and instantly turned to the penguin habitat. There were the penguins, safe and sound, waving innocently. Rai narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but shrugged it off.

"What's the problem?" Kyle asked.

"I thought I saw- Gah! I'm going nuts! Nuts I say, NUTS!" She took a deep breath and exhaled.

"I'll be right back, I need some Advil". And Rai walked toward the office holding her head with Kyle behind her.


	8. Curse of Fools

**Author's Note: **Special thanks to everyone on the "Penguin Fans Unite" forums for the help! Readers, it would be nice if you stopped by for a visit. Kick back, chat with us a it, play a few games with us. Anyway, back to the story!

"Good job, team! Stealth training is done for today! Resume your positions!" Skipper said as he gave everyone a high-five.

"Hey, Private!" Carmen called as they went back to what they were doing before.

"What do you guys do for fun around here?" She asked.

"Well, we usually play a game or two." Private answered.

"Such as?"

"Chess. Or hockey! But there's no ice to play hockey. There's also a good game of hide-and seek for training purposes, capture the flag…"

Carmen began growing bored, when suddenly an idea hit her like a ton of bricks. Addie saw the smirk on her beak and waddled toward them immediately.

"Are you pondering what I'm pondering?" Carmen asked with a smile.

"I think so, but you're going to be in a massive amount of trouble if you try to act on this idea." Addie answered with flippers on her hips.

"I could use a good practical joke about now." Carmen said absent-mindedly.

"Practical joke?" Private echoed with curiosity.

"No can do. This isn't Antarctica. It's not like teasing the leopard seals while they're on land. We just got accepted into this community, Carmen. Can't you try to be more…" Addie paused, searching for the right word. "Mature?"

"But you love practical jokes!"

"But your jokes always backfire, which get us in trouble."

"Like your jokes haven't?" Carmen retorted. Addie merely rolled her eyes, and Private was thinking through the pros and cons about the idea.

"Might I ask, who's the joke on?" Private asked.

"You're not really going with this, are you Private?" Addie asked in shock.

"Just wondering."

"A joke on King of the Squirrels!" Carmen replied happily, pointing toward the lemur habitat.

"I don't know. If we get caught, King Julien might punish us in some odd yet effective way." Private said.

"You don't have to if you don't want to. But I'm going ahead."

"No, no you aren't." Said Addie pulling Carmen back before she had the chance to make her retreat. Carmen looked back at her with a hurt expression.

"If you're so restless, we might as well do maintenance." Addie suggested.

"Maintenance? Since when do we choose chores over jokes?" Carmen asked.

"Maybe it's time to grow up?" Carmen thought for a second.

"Ok. Fine. You take the lower section, I'll see what I can do up here!" Addie arched an eyebrow, suspicious about Carmen's sudden surrender. Usually Carmen would fight about it, as annoying as it may get. Little sisters really can be a big pain.

"Alright…" Addie reluctantly retreated to the lower sections of HQ.

Carmen couldn't believe how easy that was. She was thankful for her sister's intense attention to detail, since it'll keep her busy for quite some time.

"You didn't see anything." Carmen winked, leaving Private to his duties. Carmen made her way towards Rico. Surely he would be one to enjoy a joke on the lemurs as much as she would.

"Hey Rico! How are ya?" Rico smiled, high-fiving Carmen as a greeting.

"Could you be a pal and help me out with something?"

* * *

It was another glorious day in King Julien's life. Of course it could be better without those annoying flightless birds, and a few more followers, but it was a glorious day none-the-less. Julien awoke from his royal nap. Rubbing his eyes with his tail, and getting up to stretch and yawn, his 'waking-up routine' was completed. But now what shall the royal king of the lemurs do before the zoo's closing, and before he gets his party on?

"Maurice! What is on my schedule after my royal nap?" Julien shouted. After a few seconds he called for his right-hand man once more. No answer. Julien rose from his seat and wondered around his kingdom, when suddenly-

"FEET!" The annoying puffball called Mort burst from the bushes and darted for the royal feet.

"No! Stay back! Help me, great sky spirits above! Help!" Julien cried as he ran, only to be tackled down by the ball of fuzz.

"Urgh! Get off, you silly, annoying little thing!" Julien began kicking, but Mort wouldn't let go.

"Oh, so you want a rough play, do you?" Julien ran, galloped, kicked, skipped, and did everything in his power to be rid of the infernal 'rodent'. He panted. Giggling, he thought he had finally gotten rid of Mort, but looked to see the mouse lemur still clinging on with dizzy eyes. Mort groaned in malaise, and tried getting away before Julien went for more drastic measures, but found himself to be stuck tightly on Julien's foot with no way of escaping.

"Get OFF! Don't make me use… _drastic measures_!" Julien threatened.

"I can't! I can't get off!" Mort said, beginning to cry.

"No! Stop it with the crying and get off!" Julien shouted, kicking once more.

"What on Earth is going on here?" Asked a concerned Aye-aye.

"Maurice! Help me. Mort won't get off the royal feet!" Julien pointed to the lemur as though he were pointing to a spider, or some other unpleasant creature. Maurice rolled his eyes and approached Mort. Tugging as hard as he could, but Mort simply wouldn't get off.

"Mort, what are you doing? Get off Julien's feet or things will end up pretty ugly." Maurice said calmly.

"I can't get off!" Mort repeated.

"That's strange. Hey, Julien. What was the last thing you did before you realized Mort was stuck?" Maurice asked, trying to figure this out.

"I kicked and ran, and galloped, and-"

"Before that."

"Well, I awoke from my royal nap and called out for you… twice!" Julien stated accusingly. Maurice nodded, used to these kinds of accusations.

"Then I got up to look for you and saw Mort running out of the bushes, and I pleaded to the sky spirits-" Julien stopped in mid-sentence with a face of horror.

"THE SKY SPIRITS DID THIS TO ME!" Julien screamed.

"WHY SKY SPIRITS? WHY?!" He bellowed. Maurice tried to calm him down before every eye in the zoo had the chance to stare.

"But…" Julien sniffed. "Why would they do this to me? After all, I am everything a king should be! Handsome, charismatic, brilliant, and of course, humble." After that statement, a huge explosion shot from the sky. The lemurs screamed, and Julien jumped into Maurice's arms from fright (Like in Scooby-Doo!).

"Maybe you should try being _more_ humble, and… kind?" Maurice suggested as Julien regained dignity, and dusted his fur.

"Do not be trying to complete the mission of the impossible, Maurice! How can I possibly be more humble and kind?" Julien questioned.

"Be more neighborly? Let's think, what do the penguins want or _not_ want you to do?"

Julien thought more a moment.

"Maybe I should go over and ask them. While we're there we can 'borrow' some snacks! My tummy is craving some delicious grapes!" When he took his first step outside the lemur habitat, a small explosion occurred before Julien. He thanked every spirit and god he knew of that he was not in the explosion.

"Ok, scratch that. We're staying here." An idea struck him.

"Come along! We must meditate and thank the spirits for all they have given us. Perhaps some sacrifices, yes?"

"But what could we sacrifice?"

"I once heard the definition of something called 'Karma'. When you respect this 'Karma' and do good things, good things happen. We must, as you say, be more neighborly, and sacrifice our more yummy-in-the-tummy possessions to those silly penguins." Said Julien, piling on coconuts, fish, and a huge assortment of fruit into Maurice's arms.

"Now take these gifts to the penguins, Maurice, for the sooner we get this over with, the sooner this curse shall go away!" Maurice did as Julien said. Despite the veins in his temples throbbing with anger and frustration, he fought the habit of kicking Mort away, knowing that there would be no point until this curse was lifted. Little did Julien know, two giggling penguins were hiding behind the leaves of a nearby palm tree with explosives at hand, and struggling to keep their giggles from becoming the most boisterous laughter possible from a mute and a young penguin.

* * *

"You! Lower mammal! What do you think you're doing here?" Questioned Skipper.

"And with all that fruit! Wow!" Private exclaimed, eyes on the piles of fruit and other goodies Maurice was holding.

"Julien's been cursed, and believes by doing good things, the curse will be lifted." Maurice grumbled, struggling to keep all the things he was burdened with from hitting the ground. Private noticed, and took a portion of the large pile to relieve Maurice of the heavy load.

"Tell Ringtail curses don't exist, but thanks for the return of our _borrowed _snack provisions." Skipper said, also taking a portion of the pile.

"I could use some help out here!" Skipper shouted, hoping for Kowalski, Rico, Addie or Carmen to take in the remainder of the pile. Addie appeared from the headquarters, eyes wide as soon as she beheld the scene.

"What on Earth is going on?"

"Do good things, and good things happen." Was all Skipper said.

"Ah, Karma. The concept of 'action' or 'deed' in Indian religions understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect." Kowalski explained.

"Are you _sure _you've never read a book before?" Addie asked, not understanding how one can possess so much information from observation alone. "Anyway, what's all this got to do with Karma? Did something bad happen?"

"Julien's been cursed by the sky spirits and thinks by being more neighborly, the curse will be lifted." Maurice answered.

"Surely there's a more logical explanation. What exactly happened, and if there is a curse, what could Julien have done to deserve it?" Addie asked skeptically. Skipper couldn't help but stifle a laugh when he heard the last part of the question. Private and Kowalski looked away, not wanting to go into detail about Julien's actions in the past, while Addie stood there confused. After hearing Maurice tell them what happened, the three penguins looked at each other thoughtfully.

"Explosions from the sky? That's very odd." Kowalski commented.

"What I'm confused about is how Mort got stuck." Private added. It didn't take too long for Addie to connect the dots.

"Have you noticed there are only three of us here?"

"You're right. Where are Rico and Carmen?" Private wondered.

"Rico is the weapons expert, correct?"

"Yes… but what- oh." Kowalski figured it out.

"I think I know who cast this so-called 'curse', and where Rico and Carmen are." Addie said bitterly. 'After I specifically told her not to pull any practical jokes!' she thought.

"Well, I guess we should put them on maintenance duty for the next few days." Skipper said, but Addie pulled him back into the huddle.

"I hope this doesn't come across as insubordination, but if you don't mind, I'd like to sentence her a punishment."

"And why is that?"

"You're the leader. I'm her older sister. It's a completely different relationship. Besides, I'm personally responsible for this."

"Very well." Skipper was shocked to find a devious grin take shape on Addie's beak.

"What are you planning?" Skipper asked suspiciously.

"I say we fight fire with fire. Here's what we do…"

**O Joy, another note: **The next chapter is coming slowly, but it _is _coming. It'll take a bit of a wait, though.


	9. Revenge and Repair

**Author's Note: **HAHA! FINALLY! Sing hallelujah, everyone, 'cause I am back and with a vengeance! Well, enough of that, rants are stupid. You want it, you got it. Here's CHAPTER NINE!

Time: 1421 hours.

Operation: New York's Funniest Home non-video-recorded pranks.

Target: Periscope.

Purpose: The viewing of Rico and Carmen's handiwork at a safe distance.

The mischievous duo swiftly made their way down the fishbowl entrance, currently on the verge of tears from keeping their laughs in for so long.

_Whoops!_

When the two penguins hit the ground after slipping on a step on the ladder, their long-await roar was released.

"I guess we were a bit too anxious going down the ladder, eh?" Carmen managed to say. She rolled off and thanked the penguin that protected her from the concrete ground. Rico nodded vigorously until his tongue hung from his smiling beak.

"Race ya to the periscope!" Carmen said childishly, making her way around the corner, only to be pulled back. Carmen stared back at Rico with a confused look before he pointed to the broken pencils against the wall, and an opening in the wall parallel to them, then to the barely visible string Carmen had snapped.

"Ah, booby-trap. Thanks for saving me…Again!" Carmen patted Rico on the back, who had his flippers on his hips and head held high, a pose usually taken by a super hero. Carmen rolled her eyes as she took another step toward the periscope, a step that snapped another thin string. Above her, a hatch opened to reveal a giant pie directed right at her! Rico gasped and quickly tackled Carmen to the ground, and out of the pie's very sticky path.

"Whoa, thanks again Rico!" Carmen said, feeling embarrassed that she keeps walking into traps. Rico gave a smile and a slight chuckle. But seriously, what was going on? He didn't remember the giant pie. He should know. He helped design the security system! The two got up from the ground, brushing dust and assorted berries from the pie off themselves. Rico decided to take point in case there were any more unexpected traps. Thankfully, they reached the periscope unharmed, but just in case, Rico decided to quickly inspect the area surrounding the periscope. Nothing. With a relieved chuckle, he looked through the periscope to see… nothing?

"Something wrong?" Carmen asked. Rico pointed to the periscope and covered his eyes, then exaggerating confused actions. Carmen's concerned expression became a grin, evolving into a snicker.

"You have a little-" Carmen pointed to her right eye. What? Did he have dirt around his eyes? Rico rubbed both eyes, but ended up smearing the black ink that formed a ring around his eye. Now the ink was covering most of his face.

"I suggest-" Carmen released a snicker before attempting to say the word, 'mirror'. Rico took the hint and regurgitated the needed item and laughed when he saw his ink covered face. Their jolly laughter was stopped, however, by the sound of something crashing to the floor. The duo turned their attention to, and was utterly shocked to see a huge boulder rolling towards them. Screaming, they ran down the hall with the boulder right behind them until they hit a dead end.

"This is the end! Good bye Rico, I just want to say… this was way more fun than goofing around with the leopard seals in Antarctica!"

"Kaboom!"

"Kaboom? O! Great idea!" Rico regurgitated a small stick of dynamite and laughed darkly, but it was too late. The boulder hit, and… they were still alive? No broken bones? No missing limbs, nothing? Rico poked the boulder, and it released a squeaking sound.

"Fake." Rico managed to say with raised eyebrows. Carmen was baffled, yet excited and pleased, but angry as well, knowing well who was responsible for this.

"So I guess she still has a bit of mischief left in her, eh? " Carmen stormed her way around the rubber boulder and her face made contact with a blueberry pie.

"And you said I was no fun anymore." Addie smirked, as she made sure all the pie's contents were mounted on Carmen's face. When Rico made his way around the boulder, he too, was greeted by a pie in the face by none other than Skipper and Kowalski. Carmen laughed as she wiped the sticky fruit and fruity liquids off, nearly giving Addie a death glare.

"You do realize you're going to have to clean this up, right?"

"Uhhh, that would be a negative, dear sister."

"What?"

"Being the victim of our booby traps are the first part of your punishment for leaving the perimeter without permission, being the cause of distress in the lemur habitat, and distress within the zoo community." Skipper explained.

"Not to mention causing Julian to be twice as annoying as before." Maurice mumbled, hoping the other animals, or at least the chimpanzees didn't file a restraining order against their 'king' for all the 'kindness' Julian offered them.

"The second part of your punishment is cleaning up this mess." Skipper said in his authoritative tone.

"Ah, but isn't Addie the source of this disorder?" Carmen questioned.

"Not exactly." Kowalski stated with a hint of a chuckle.

"Not a single trace of this mini-disaster would exist if you followed orders, so that makes you responsible for all of this." Addie construed, handing Carmen a bucket and mop. Meanwhile, Rico tiptoed towards the ladder leading to the surface with the rubber boulder as a disguise, hoping he wouldn't be noticed.

"Not so fast, mister!" Skipper ordered. Rico let out a groan, and knowing that he was also responsible, he regurgitated his own mop and began cleaning up.

* * *

"So, what do we do about Julian?" Maurice asked.

"Kowalski, options." Kowalski pulled out his notes and put together a plan.

"Well Skipper, we could reason with Julian and tell him all of this was nothing more than a practical joke. But the odds are, he won't believe a single word of it." Skipper released a frustrated groan. Why can't things ever be simple with the lemurs?

"He might if we bring in proof and a confession." Addie suggested. Skipper and Kowalski looked at each other, Kowalski with a look of disappointment, and Skipper looked as though she was struggling to keep himself from allowing the slightest chuckle to escape his beak.

"He can't be that bad." Addie said, crossing her flippers over her chest.

"Trust me, there's more than a boatload of idiots out there, and one of them happens to be right next door."

Carmen, overhearing the conversation, scoffed.

"You don't know the definition of that word until you've met half our colony." She said bitterly. Skipper still looked skeptical.

"Couldn't we at least _try _using reason?" Addie looked over at Kowalski, pleading for help. He sighed, then took out his abacus and began his calculations.

"Sir, there is a chance he'll listen if we give him evidence that he accepts as 'logical." Kowalski said. Skipper brought a flipper to his face.

"Very well. But if logic does no good, we use force." With that, Skipper climbed his way to the surface with the others following him.

"How would one use force to bring another to their senses?" Addie asked, trying desperately to convince herself Skipper wouldn't use the measures leaders in history used during war. History books… yikes!

"He wouldn't do something exceptionally drastic." Kowalski assured. _Exceptionally _drastic? What was considered _exceptionally _drastic? Or what did they consider drastic? Addie wondered.

_

"It was a prank! You've been duped! Tricked! Outwitted! Played like a fool! Tell them, newbie." Skipper exclaimed, taking a couple of steps back, exposing Carmen, who pulled Rico into the spotlight with her.

"Yeah… sorry about that." Carmen said half-heartedly. Rico nodded in agreement, and regurgitated a small explosive.

"See, we used Rico's explosives to make you think the sky spirits were mad at you."

She then took a bottle of Super-Glue from behind her back.

"And this is why Mort is stuck to you. It should wear off within the next ten minutes." She explained to a shocked Julian. Mort on the other hand, was unconscious from the day's events, and from Julian having a freak out that would probably keep Mort far away from Julian for a week or two.

"I cannot be believing this! Why would you be tricking your king? And worse of all, impersonate the sky spirits?" Julian asked accusingly, ready to leap from his throne. Carmen smiled.

"Because it was fu-" She began, but Rico nudged her, knowing their limits. Carmen sighed in defeat.

"I'm sorry. The point is, no one, er, no immortal being, no wait. Um. The sky spirits aren't angry with you. So things can go back to normal, right?" Carmen asked hopefully.

"Well… I am pretty upset, but at least I can go back to my old self again. Your apology has been kingly accepted, my flightless neighbor!" Carmen and Rico looked back at the team in relief, and Skipper was actually shocked Julian would actually listen!

"However. Because we are going back to _normal, _I demand my delicious fruity treats back!" Julian ordered with his paw out, referring to the goodies he ordered Maurice to give to the penguins earlier that day. Skipper groaned, now suffering from his daily dose of 'lemur-induce-headaches'.

"Well… at least he's a _bit _open-minded." Addie said, avoiding eye contact with the group.


End file.
